


The Sinner

by Max_Riemelts_Me



Category: Sense8 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angels, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Heaven, Hell, Not a religious fic, Sinners, Smut, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-12
Packaged: 2019-02-26 09:32:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13232925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Max_Riemelts_Me/pseuds/Max_Riemelts_Me
Summary: Wolfgang dies and goes to hell. Once a year he is allowed a day in heaven and this is where he meets Kala.[This may have religious elements in it, but 80% of it is imagined.]





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a one-shot, but it kept growing and now it's a three chapter fic. 
> 
> I built a world in my head for this fic. If you're curious about something not mentioned in detail or explored, please feel free to ask about it.
> 
> Dear PreRaphaelites, thank you so much for the beta.
> 
> Dear reader, any mistakes you find are my own.
> 
> I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I've enjoyed writing it.

Wolfgang felt as though he had been falling for hours before he finally hit solid ground with a long, pained grunt. His stomach was still quivering, his heart was still beating frantically, and his breathing was still erratic when he slowly opened his eyes. He hurriedly closed them again, however, against the rays of the blazing sun. With his eyes shut, Wolfgang tried to move only to be hit by a wave of nauseating pain that made him gasp then choke on the sand he inhaled through his mouth. He spat it out and dry heaved, aggravating the pain that had taken over his body from head to toe. Wolfgang never knew what suffering was until that unfortunate moment.

A shadow hovered over Wolfgang, blocking the sun. Wolfgang carefully opened his eyes and gazed up to see a man dressed in black. His hair and beard were white, his eyes were a cold, piercing blue.

“Welcome to Hell, Sinner,” the man said with a sneer. “My name is Whispers and I am your welcoming committee.”

Wolfgang was too disoriented to focus on or understand what the man was saying, all he knew was that he had to get up. He tried to rise again, taking his time, gritting his teeth through the agonizing pain. He finally managed to get to his feet, but swayed and nearly fell. The man, who was standing by, patiently waiting, grabbed Wolfgang by the arm to steady him. That was the first time Wolfgang noticed that he was naked. He hurriedly covered himself, confusion written all over his face, much to the man’s amusement, “Why?”

“Sinners aren’t allowed clothes, so you might as well get used to it,” the man said and started walking slowly, his hands behind his back, certain that Wolfgang would follow despite the disorientation. “Give it a minute. Unlike every wretched soul here, your fall into Hell was quite a long one,” The man explained, addressing Wolfgang’s dizziness.

“Where the hell am I? And who are you?” Wolfgang asked, panting, taking one laboured step after the other.

The man sighed. “I always have to repeat myself. I thought you would be different.” He shook his head and continued, “You’re in Hell, Sinner.”

“What?” Wolfgang asked, his eyes taking in his surroundings for the first time. He was in a desert, a seemingly never ending one. It was all a straight plane of sand without a hint of trees for shade, growth for food, or water to drink. He looked up and risked falling again as unbalanced as he still was. The sky was white with how relentlessly the sun shone, the rays so harsh he couldn’t look up for more than a second before his eyes burned.

“Is this some kind of sick joke?” Wolfgang asked, still looking around. “And who the fuck are you?”

The man suddenly came to a halt and turned, looking down on Wolfgang. When he spoke, his voice sounded like thunderclaps. “I am Whispers!” he roared, grabbing Wolfgang by the throat and lifting him off ground with ease. Wolfgang’s eyes widened in horror, not just because he felt his windpipe about to break, but because of the massive black wings that spread behind the man's shoulders. “I am one of the Keepers of Hell and you will show me respect, Sinner,” Whispers concluded, throwing Wolfgang to the side.

Wolfgang flew into the air for a few seconds before he finally crashed to the ground, crying out in agony. He opened his eyes to the sight of Whispers soaring gracefully above him, black wings in stark contrast with the white sky, before  landing by Wolfgang’s head, wings kicking sand in Wolfgang’s face.

“This isn’t real. I’m dreaming. This is not real,” Wolfgang repeated the words to himself as he struggled to stand, his feet betraying him more than once before he finally straightened.

“I wouldn’t call this a dream. It’s more of a nightmare, Sinner,” Whispers gloated.

“Stop calling me that,” Wolfgang said, defiant, despite his unmistakable disadvantage.

“What am I supposed to call you then?” Whispers asked, then added tauntingly, “Sinner.”

Wolfgang frowned at the question. He had no answer to it. He couldn’t remember his name. He couldn’t remember anything about himself or his life. His mind was blank and the only person who could give him answers was apparently an Angel, a Keeper of Hell.

“The sooner you let go of the comforting thought that this is a dream you can wake from, the better,” Whispers advised Wolfgang, grabbing his arm in a tight grip, and pulling him forward to continue walking. “You shall not remember the name He gave you until He deems you worthy, _if_ He ever deems you worthy. Right now, you are only Sinner.”

Despite what he was told and what he had seen, Wolfgang still believed he was stuck in a nightmare. He kept telling his brain to wake up, but it wouldn’t. He closed his eyes tightly for a second, opened them again, still, nothing changed.

Resolved to live this nightmare through until it ended, Wolfgang decided to ask questions, try to understand the logic behind it all. “Why am I here then?”

“You killed someone you had no business killing, Sinner,” Whispers answered quietly.

Wolfgang frowned again. “Was he a good man?”

Whispers laughed without real humour. “No, he was a terrible man who abused his child.”

“I should be applauded for killing him then, not punished.”

“That’s exactly what you thought as you killed him,” Whispers said, looking down at Wolfgang with a smirk on his face. “You don’t just kill people, Sinner. You don’t assign yourself the role of judge and executioner. That’s His role.”

Wolfgang pinched the bridge of his nose, quickly growing tired of the philosophy. “How do I get out of here?”

“You don’t!” Whispers said with finality. “Once a year you get to spend a day in Heaven though, as part of your punishment.”

“Punishment? A day in Heaven doesn’t sound so bad,” Wolfgang snorted.

“You get to see and experience what you can’t have here in Hell: food, shelter, peace, love, humans in their prime, beautiful children playing around,” Whispers explained, “The most important part is that it’s a break from The Servants of Hell. That might sound like a good thing to you now, but spend a day away from The Servants and their horror is the same as it was when you first laid eyes on them. It angers them that you’re gone and they make up for lost time.”

“The ‘Servants of Hell’?” Wolfgang smirked.

“Yes,” Whispers nodded, then merely pointed a finger behind his left shoulder. “The Servants of Hell.”

Wolfgang turned to see what Whispers was pointing at and the smirk fell from his face.

“I have to admit there’s a kind of poetic justice about this being your first punishment,” Whispers said wistfully. “They’re hungry. They’re always hungry. I should get out of their way,” he said, spreading his wings and taking flight. He hovered over Wolfgang, however, to give him a little piece of advice. “Don’t bother wishing for death, Sinner. You don’t die in Hell.” With these parting words, Whispers shot up to the sky, his powerful wings carrying him to where Wolfgang could no longer see him.

The growling behind Wolfgang sent shivers down his spine. He slowly turned to face the three bald wolves staring at him. Their eyes were white, their unnaturally long fangs were bloody, and their hooked claws left deep marks in the sand as they slowly approached him.

A piercing scream startled Wolfgang. He turned only to realise he was no longer alone. There were thousands more hungry wolves and thousands more naked Sinners. Wolfgang looked back at the approaching wolves just as they had started running to him. They descended on him with fangs and claws, tearing at his skin and biting into his flesh. Wolfgang screamed at the top of his lungs and wished for death, but it never came. Every part of him the wolves devoured grew back for the wolves to devour again.

The horror never stopped, the agony never eased, the sun never set, the day never ended, and neither did Wolfgang’s torture.

Wolfgang lost track of time, and how could he keep track of it? He only marked time by the levels of Hell he fell into.

When the wolves suddenly stopped shredding his body and retreated, he couldn’t move as his flesh grew back to cover his bare bones. Even when he was whole again, he still couldn’t shift, paralyzed by the horrific realisation that he really was in Hell. He turned his staring gaze to the side just in time to feel the ground swallow him. He landed face-down on shards of glass that stabbed into every part of him that touched the ground. The groans of the tortured souls around him forced him to move. His eyes stung with tears as he pushed off the floor. Standing on bloodied, unsteady feet, he pulled the shards out of his body, blood oozing out of the wounds before they closed. Wolfgang looked around and saw the other Sinners doing the same.

They were in what seemed like a tunnel carved out in a mountain. There was a light at the end of the tunnel that all Sinners walked towards and Wolfgang followed suit, the broken glass merciless against the tender flesh of his feet. He didn’t know what he would find at the end of the tunnel, yet he felt compelled to keep walking. Staying still was not an option. He struggled to move one foot ahead of the other, the searing pain causing tears to stream down his face. Wolfgang sobbed as he kept walking and walking for what felt like days, yet the light never drew closer. Desperation ate at his insides just as the wolves had done. The torment became unendurable, the hunger and the thirst drove him crazy, and his feet could no longer carry him.

Wolfgang fell forward, the glass stabbing into his body again. Blood trickled out of his mouth and onto the glass floor before his eyes closed then opened to new horrors.

Wolfgang was in a mine, a gold mine. A whip tore at his back eliciting a scream. “Move, Sinner,” a Keeper he couldn’t see commanded. Without looking back, he picked up a hammer and a pick and went to work. His feet bled on the unforgiving floors, his wrists broke under the weight of the hammer and pick, the skin on his back shredded with too many lashes.

When the Keeper bellowed that it was time for a break, Wolfgang fell through the floor yet again. He was in a desert, but the sky was red, barren trees reaching out towards it. Wolfgang’s gaze fell on a well. He ran to it, hoping desperately for water. As soon as he scooped some in his hands, he cried out. The water was almost at boiling point, but Wolfgang’s thirst ruled him, and he drank regardless. The water burned his hands and mouth, his throat and his insides, but he couldn’t stop himself. The thirst was unquenchable.

A Sinner pulled him back by the shoulders, pushing him to the ground to take his place. Blinded by his thirst, Wolfgang did the same. It became a fight for survival, all Sinners tearing at each other’s skin, biting into each other’s flesh for a spot at the boiling well.

The ground opened up again. Wolfgang found himself in another desert, another red sky, more barren trees, but with rotten, worm-riddled apples hanging from the branches. Wolfgang’s hunger ruled him the same way his thirst had. He picked one of the apples, but as soon as he did, it turned to ash. He frantically picked one after the other, but all turned to ash before he even lifted any to his mouth. In despair, Wolfgang fell to his knees, willing to eat the sand beneath his feet. He grabbed a handful in his palm and watched as it turned into a chunk of bread. Covered in mold as it was, Wolfgang still devoured it. He ate three pieces before his stomach turned and threw it all up. That didn’t stop Wolfgang, however: He did it again and again until the ground dissolved beneath him and dumped him back in the gold mine.

That was how Wolfgang spent his first year in Hell.

********

Wolfgang was in the white desert again, the wolves nowhere to be seen. He looked down at himself and saw he was dressed in black pants and a black shirt, but his feet remained bare. There wasn’t a single scratch on him. He felt no pain.

An immense shadow hovered over him and he knew it was a Keeper. He was expecting Whispers, but the one that descended before him with such grace was not him.

“I’m Will,” The Keeper said with a kind smile, his blue eyes warm and oddly luminous.

Wolfgang remained silent.

“Did you remember your name yet?” Will asked. When Wolfgang shook his head, Will sighed, then straightened his shoulders. “Well, are you ready for your first day in Heaven?”

A deep frown marred Wolfgang’s face, “It’s been a year already?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t have a choice, do I?” Wolfgang asked, remembering Whispers’ words about The Servants.

“I’m sorry, but no, you don’t,” Will replied.

“Are you, really?”

“Am I what?”

“Sorry. Are you really sorry?” Wolfgang asked. He wanted to sound angry just as he felt, but instead his voice shook and tears stung his eyes. He couldn’t understand the conflicting emotions. He resented his show of weakness and vulnerability, yet he somehow felt this Keeper was different from Whispers.

The Keeper walked closer to Wolfgang, his bright eyes looking straight into Wolfgang’s tired ones. “I am,” he said with such sincerity that Wolfgang couldn’t help but believe him.

Wolfgang sighed. “I’m ready to go,” he said, averting his eyes.

Will nodded. “I should warn you though. People in Heaven are wary of Sinners. You will be free to roam around, but don’t expect to be accepted or welcomed. People will avoid talking to you, will look away if you meet their eyes, and may walk in the opposite direction as soon as they see you coming. I hope you meet one of the few who won’t though.”

All Wolfgang could do was nod. What else could he say or do? What choice did he have in any of it?

Will wrapped an arm around Wolfgang’s waist, his eyes meeting Wolfgang’s startled ones, “Are you afraid of heights?” he asked challengingly, then with a single flap of his wings, he lifted off the ground and soared into the sky.

Wolfgang’s heart was ready to beat its way out of his chest. The ascension to Heaven wasn’t frightening to him. It was exhilarating and for the first time in a year of torture, Wolfgang felt alive.

All too soon, the Keeper landed at The Gates with ease, releasing a smiling Wolfgang.

“Was that really necessary?” Wolfgang asked, his smile still in place, doubting the Keeper was only showing off.

Will returned the smile, “In your case it was.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Will turned and led the way to The Gates, saying over his shoulder, “Welcome to Heaven.”

Wolfgang stared as The Gates opened, allowing them in. He stepped over the threshold tentatively, expecting the doors to close in his face for daring to set a foot inside, but they didn’t. Instead a welcome feeling of peace and calm descended on him, taking the weight of Hell off his shoulders.

“So this is what Heaven looks like,” Wolfgang said as he slowly turned a full circle. His eyes hungrily studied the shades of green, blue, silver and gold. He was so used to either an unforgiving sun and sand, or a darkness he could not escape. The air was fresh and the breeze crisp; Wolfgang couldn’t help but inhale deeply.

His eyes settled on Will for a moment. “Why are your wings white? Whispers’ were black.”

“I’m not a Keeper of Hell. I’m an Angel of Earth.”

Wolfgang’s eyes narrowed, “Then what are you doing here?” he questioned, walking closer to the Angel.

“Does it really matter?”

“It does.”

“Does it, really?”

Wolfgang realised he was going nowhere with that question and let it go. He kept his eyes on Will’s face for a long moment. Will didn’t mind, didn’t fidget, his bright blue eyes met Wolfgang’s steadily. Wolfgang smirked then turned to walk, somehow certain Will would follow.

“Don’t think I didn’t notice,” Wolfgang said after a few minutes of silence.

“Notice what?”

“That you never called me Sinner.”

“Would you rather I did?”

“Do you ever give a straight answer?” Wolfgang asked, smiling, with a small shake of his head.

Will shrugged. “Come on. There’s so much to see,” Will said, gesturing with his head to a fork in the road, then led the way.

Wolfgang readily followed. He was drinking in the sights and the smells when they suddenly reached a river. It glittered in the sun, the rays creating the illusion of diamonds floating on the surface. There were people on both banks, talking in groups. There were children playing by the banks, unafraid of falling in. Wolfgang was mesmerised by the view, he wasn’t aware of his bare feet sinking into the lush grass, or of Will staying behind and leaving him alone.

Wolfgang stopped just short of walking into the river, his eyes glued to the water. A child pushed past him and slipped, nearly falling in, had it not been for Wolfgang catching him by the arm. The boy smiled up at him and gave him a cheerful “Thank you.”

Wolfgang opened his mouth to speak, but the child’s mother came running. “What did I tell you about talking to Sinners?” she chastised the boy who hung his head.

“Is that what you really want to teach your child? Fear and hate? In Heaven of all places?”

Wolfgang turned towards the voice and his breath caught in his chest. It would be unfair of him to call her a woman. To his eyes she was a vision. Her hair was black and in perfect curls falling around her face. A stubborn strand kept escaping from behind her ear and obscuring her eyes. He wished she would push it away so he could see them, and she did. Wolfgang could see her wide, dark eyes and her long lashes. His eyes lowered to her perfect nose and supple lips. His eyes stayed there for a second, watching her lips move. He lowered his gaze to her slender neck, delicate shoulders, and her full breasts. His eyes traced her narrow waist, where her emerald green dress was tied with a gold braid. He couldn’t see anything further as the dress grazed her ankles, but he was sure the rest of her would be just as beautiful.

“Are you alright?”

Her voice brought Wolfgang back to the moment. His head snapped up just in time to see the mother walk away with her child. He had missed an entire conversation it seemed. “I’m fine,” he finally said, his eyes at last meeting hers.

“I’m sorry you had to hear that. You’re already atoning for your sins. You don’t need one of us to ruin the day for you,” she said, a kind smile curving her lips.

“I didn’t hear any of it,” Wolfgang admitted.

“You didn’t?” Kala asked, her brows furrowed quizzically.

Wolfgang shook his head, the ghost of a smile on his face.

“That’s actually a good thing,” she said, her smile widening. “I’m Kala,” she introduced herself, stretching out her hand to shake his.

Wolfgang hesitantly took her hand in his. Her reassuring smile gave him the courage to hold her hand in a proper handshake.

“So, what’s your name?” Kala asked conversationally, trying to ignore how painfully thin he looked. His cheeks were hollow, his lips were chapped, and his eyes were bulging and ringed with dark circles, while his clothes hung loose from his skeletal frame.

“I don’t remember my name. We’re stripped of them in Hell.”

Kala’s eyes widened in horror. “I’m so sorry. I already knew that. I just - I shouldn’t have-” Kala stuttered. There was no decent way to tell him how his appearance broke her heart: She had asked the hurtful question out of nerves.

“Don’t worry about it,” Wolfgang interrupted, pushing his hands awkwardly into his pockets, his eyes on the ground.

Kala nervously pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. “How about we give you a name then? Last time I checked there were no rules against it,” Kala suggested sheepishly, internally groaning at her failure to say anything tactful.

Wolfgang looked up and saw the embarrassed smile on her face. He couldn’t help but smile back and humour her. “What can it be, though? I can’t think of anything.”

“How about Steve?” Kala asked, gesturing for Wolfgang to come closer. When he did, they walked side by side along the river.

“No,” Wolfgang shook his head.

“Michael?”

“No.”

“Ryan?”

“No.”

“Blondie?” she asked with a giggle.

“No!” Wolfgang exclaimed, chuckling.

“Well, you’re not making this easy,” Kala joked.

“Well, you’re not really trying,” Wolfgang teased.

“I am,” Kala said, feigning indignation. “How about Will?”

“My Keeper’s name is Will,” Wolfgang said quietly.

Kala frowned, “I have met many Keepers in my time here. None of them was called Will.” She stopped Wolfgang with a hand on his arm, “Wait! Your Keeper, does he have white wings, serious but kind blue eyes, slightly angular jaw, prominent cheekbones, and loves to answer questions with more questions?”

“Sounds like him,” Wolfgang stated, “You seem to have noticed quite a lot about him.”

“I’m human. We can’t help but be taken by how beautiful Angels are,” Kala explained, blushing. “That doesn’t add up though. Will is an Earth Angel. He is an Angel of Peace. What is he doing escorting you from Hell?”

“I asked him the same question, but-”

“He answered you with a question,” Kala finished for him.

“Exactly,” Wolfgang agreed with a smirk that faded as his stomach growled loudly.

“Oh my God! How foolish of me not to ask?” Kala berated herself as she dragged a confused Wolfgang behind her. “I should have asked if you had eaten. I’m so sorry.”

Wolfgang turned his eyes towards the river one last time as Kala pulled him in the opposite direction. His eyes fell on a couple filling glasses from the river and drinking. “Can I drink from the river too?” he asked, nearly bumping into Kala when she stopped abruptly.

“You can drink, but not from this river,” she said quietly, seemingly withdrawn.

“Why not?”

Kala lowered her head as if ashamed of her answer. “One sip of this and you shall never be thirsty again. You are not allowed to drink from it or you will not experience thirst in Hell, which in turn kind of-”

“Kind of beats the purpose?” Wolfgang interrupted sourly.

“I’m sorry,” Kala said, her eyes still on the ground.

Wolfgang sighed. “No, I’m sorry,” he apologised, his voice sincere. “It’s not your fault that I’m condemned.”

“There are other rivers you can drink from,” she said, still withdrawn.

“Kala,” Wolfgang said, daring to lift her chin with a slight touch of his finger. “It’s alright,” he whispered.

Kala gave him a hesitant smile, then nodded.

“Food?” Wolfgang reminded her gently.

“Yes, of course,” she said hurriedly and led the way to an apple tree. She picked one from a bushel under it and offered it to Wolfgang. “Something to help until we get to the real food.”

Wolfgang accepted the apple wondering if it would dissolve into ashes when he touched it. When it didn’t, Wolfgang smiled. “Are you trying to have me kicked out of Heaven, daughter of Eve?” Wolfgang asked and enjoyed the sound of Kala’s heartfelt giggle.

“No, son of Adam. I am not.”

Wolfgang took a small bite of the apple and as soon as he did, he couldn’t stop. He devoured the apple in a few bites, its juice dripping from his chin. Wolfgang ate all of it, leaving nothing but the stem. He was about to eat that too when he realised how he must have looked to Kala, but after living on near boiling water and rotten bread for a year, he couldn’t help it. He wiped his chin on his sleeve and stared at the stem in his hand, unwilling to meet her eyes. He was surprised when she simply reached out and plucked it out of his hand, then silently replaced it with another apple.

Wolfgang lifted his gaze to meet hers. There was no judgment there, just kindness. He watched as Kala picked up a few more apples, then guided him gently by the elbow to keep walking.

Wolfgang ate the second apple as they walked, slower than before, but still it was finished too soon. Kala kept giving him more until they reached a house. Wolfgang paused outside as he stared at the gold and silver bricks. “Is this yours?” Wolfgang asked. He couldn’t keep his mind from wandering back to the mines. He realised at that moment what significance they held. It was yet another form of torture for The Sinners to see that they were whipped and tormented to provide the Dwellers of Heaven with gold for their homes.

Kala nodded. “Yes, it is.”

“It’s beautiful,” Wolfgang said owing to the fact that it really was, but he wished he could tell her how the bricks came to be and wondered if she already knew.

“Thank you! Please, come in,” Kala said, oblivious to Wolfgang’s inner turmoil.

Wolfgang followed her inside, his eyes taking in everything from the gauzy curtains blowing in the breeze, to the wooden floors and the creamy couches that seemed so soft he wished to drown in one, to the soft, silk carpets under his feet. He touched a hand to the walls, feeling the smooth bricks, then raised his head to stare at the ceiling. He looked at Kala and pointed a finger upwards.

“Mother of pearl,” Kala said, understanding his question.

“Impressive,” Wolfgang said, his tone laced with bitterness.

Kala didn’t miss it. She couldn’t begrudge him the anger that he must have felt walking into her home, seeing all the luxuries he would forever be deprived of.

“Please, come with me,” Kala said, leading the way to a patio overlooking a garden with a fountain. She gestured towards the table and took a seat inviting Wolfgang to join her. Wolfgang sat at the table with a sigh.

“What would you like to eat?” Kala asked, her tone light. She tried not to make a big issue out of the meal. She tried her best to make it casual, but she had a feeling all her attempts would fail.

Wolfgang considered the question for a moment as Kala waited patiently. He couldn’t think of a single thing he craved. “I’m sorry. I can’t think of anything and I wouldn’t want you to go through the trouble of making anything. So-” Wolfgang concluded with a shrug, leaving the sentence hanging.

“I wouldn’t have to do anything,” Kala started, now certain that this situation would only get more awkward as it progressed, “What was your favourite food? From before?”

“I don’t remember. In fact, I don’t remember anything about my life before Hell,” Wolfgang said, staring at his hands.

“That’s unusual,” Kala said, frowning thoughtfully.

“How?” Wolfgang asked, looking at Kala.

“Not knowing your name is standard, but you should be able to remember everything about your life prior to this.”

Kala shook her head, deciding the conversation could wait until she actually offered him the food she had promised. “Is it alright if I chose for you?”

Wolfgang nodded his agreement, expecting Kala to leave him while she prepared whatever she chose. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open, however, when he saw plates and cutlery appearing on the table out of thin air. His eyes moved between the table that steadily filled with steaming dishes of fragrant food, and Kala’s focused face.

“How?” Wolfgang finally managed to ask.

Kala wanted to cry. What could she possibly say that wouldn’t add insult to injury? She silently cursed herself and decided there was no easy way to say it, so she just blurted out the truth: “All I need to do is wish for something and it just appears.”

Wolfgang’s haunted eyes told her that he was indeed hurt by the words. The contrast between their worlds was so stark it stabbed at him hard.

Kala couldn’t handle the pressure any longer. “I’m so sorry. I know all this is hurtful to you. Believe me, I am trying my best not to, but I can’t help it.” Tears streamed down Kala’s face unbidden. “I have never done this before. I almost didn’t today, but there was something about you that I couldn’t turn away from. I don’t even know what it is. I am so sorry you’re in Hell. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry,” Kala was sobbing into her hands by the time she was done talking.

Wolfgang watched in amazement. How sincere she sounded and the tears falling from her eyes added more proof to what he had already believed: Kala had a boundless, beautiful, compassionate, and kind soul. Something within Wolfgang shifted at her sincerity and agony over his misfortune that he felt his own eyes sting, that he felt the urge to alleviate her sadness.

Without being fully aware of his actions, Wolfgang rose to his feet and kneeled by her chair, tentatively reaching for her hands and lowering them. Kala was surprised by the gesture, but not resentful of it. Wolfgang wiped her tears with the backs of his fingers, his eyes on hers. Not trusting his voice, Wolfgang whispered, holding Kala’s hands in his, “Please, don’t cry. I’m sorry I’m making this so hard for you. I don’t mean to. It does sting to see all this, but none of it is your fault, Kala. For what it’s worth, your kindness makes it hurt less.”

“You have nothing to apologise for. It was kind of you to, but you didn’t have to,” Kala whispered, her sobbing subsiding. She took a deep breath, wiped her cheeks with one hand, then placed it on top of Wolfgang’s. “I’ve heard Hell humbles the soul to the point of breaking. When people from Hell come, they’re broken, begging for anything we can give. They devour without thought. They don’t care about anything or anyone.” Kala lowered her eyes in shame. “I fear them sometimes.” Kala raised her eyes to meet Wolfgang’s. “Your soul isn’t broken, though. You still have your dignity, your pride. You’re kind and thoughtful. You’re different from any I’d come across.”

Wolfgang smiled, the smile not reaching his eyes. “It’s only my first year in Hell. Who knows how I’ll be next year.”

“I’ve seen people after their first year and you are nothing like them, so that I can’t help but wonder why you are in Hell at all. What was your unforgivable Sin?” Kala asked, searching for an answer that could clear her confusion, that could make her understand him, and maybe in turn help her understand herself and understand why she cared so much about this one Sinner whom she had only just met.

Wolfgang released Kala’s hand, returning to his seat. “I killed a man. He abused his child so I took his life.”

“You were sent to Hell for ridding the world of an evil man?”

Wolfgang merely nodded.

“You confuse me. Nothing about you adds up. You don’t remember anything about your life, your soul is still intact, your Sin seems a forgivable one, yet you were sent to Hell? I don’t understand.”

“That makes two of us,” Wolfgang said.

Kala sighed in frustration, “We shouldn’t waste time on this. We should eat, there’s so much I want to show you.” Kala closed her eyes briefly, worrying she had said the wrong thing.  She was way out of her comfort zone. She didn’t know what she was doing, she didn’t know what could hurt his feelings and what wouldn’t. She was about to groan in frustration when Wolfgang put her out of her misery.

“I look forward to it,” he said with a smile that reached his eyes.

Kala breathed in relief, then started adding food to her plate to encourage Wolfgang to do the same.

They ate in silence until Wolfgang's curiosity got the better of him. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but what happened to you?”

Kala shook her head, “I don’t mind. Ask me anything you want,” she reassured him, then continued, “I was in a car accident with my husband. He didn’t survive it either.” Kala noticed Wolfgang had stopped chewing, so she added as nonchalantly as possible, “I’m not married anymore. He is in Hell.”

“What was his Sin?” Wolfgang asked, not bothered by the mention of Hell as Kala had suspected him to be.

“He owned a pharmaceutical company that sold expired drugs. He was responsible for the death of many. I only know that because I asked when I first got here and couldn’t find him. I didn’t know when we were alive.” Kala sighed, “I later learned that the accident exposed the corruption. There were incriminating documents in his briefcase.” Kala shook her head. “I can only imagine what it would have been like if I survived. The devastation of the discovery, the shame, the loss, and the mourning, they would have been unbearable.”

“You didn’t feel any of this here?”

“No, none of it. There’s this infinite peace that Heaven gives you as soon as you walk through The Gates. It was a mercy that I didn’t have to live through the fallout. There was a chance I would have been implicated in the crimes Rajan had committed. I could have ended up in prison.”

“Do you have family on Earth?”

“Yes, my parents and my younger sister,” Kala said, smiling for the first time since she started telling her story.

“You love them very much,” Wolfgang said, smiling back.

“I do. I check on them regularly. I check news of Earth regularly, actually.”

“And how’s Earth doing?”

“Earth is in chaos,” she said disapprovingly. “This is going to sound insensitive and I apologise in advance, but I’m happy I’m here and not down there.”

“That wasn’t insensitive, just honest. Speaking of honesty, I don’t know why I’m at such ease with you, like I’ve known you my whole life, although I know that isn’t true.” Wolfgang shrugged. “I believe you could call me Sinner and I wouldn’t mind,” Wolfgang concluded with a nervous chuckle, then lowered his eyes in embarrassment.

“I will never call you that,” Kala said with intensity, covering one of Wolfgang’s hands with hers.

Wolfgang held on to Kala’s hand silently, his vulnerable eyes fixed on hers. They remained that way for a long minute until Kala blushed, pulling her hand away. Wolfgang cleared his throat and ate some more.

Once he felt full, he asked Kala if she would show him around. Kala nodded eagerly as she noticed how Wolfgang looked healthier, how he seemed to have filled up. His cheeks were no longer too hollow, his frame no longer too skinny. What Kala noticed most was how his eyes shone. They turned a vibrant shade of blue, replacing the dull shade they had been before.

Kala’s next door neighbour walked out of her house just as Wolfgang and Kala walked by. She called out Kala’s name, a frown on her face.

“Sun!” Kala called out and pulled Wolfgang by the hand as she walked over to her friend. Sun’s eyes never left Wolfgang though, and they widened marginally when she saw Kala take his hand.

“This is my best friend, Sun,” Kala said to Wolfgang when Sun met them halfway.

Wolfgang partially bowed his head when Sun didn’t extend her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

Sun raised an eyebrow. “Thank you!”

“Sun helps when souls like yours come to visit. Everything I know, I learned from her,” Kala explained.

“That’s very kind of you,” Wolfgang told Sun, “From what I’ve heard from Kala, it must be hard.”

Sun frowned again. “Nothing I can’t handle. Besides, the Keepers make sure nothing happens,” Sun said. “Speaking of which, where is your Keeper?”

“I don’t know. Will left me alone shortly after I arrived,” Wolfgang said dismissively.

“Sinners are never without their Keepers and why are you the only one here today?” Sun questioned, on edge. She had dealt with so many Sinners, seen how savage they could be, and she worried about Kala. In addition to that, this Sinner was peculiar, to say the least.

“Sun, please don’t,” Kala pleaded.

“Don’t what? Call him a Sinner? Because he is.”

“Your friend is right, Kala, I am,” Wolfgang interjected, trying to diffuse the argument he could sense was brewing.

“You are one unusual Sinner,” Sun said, shaking her head.

“I was telling Kala earlier, it’s only my first year.”

“That doesn’t mean anything. Once you meet The Servants, you’re gone,” Sun clarified. “I have to go, but if you need me to come with you, I will, Kala,”

“That’s not necessary,” Kala declined the offer. “Are we still on for tonight?”

Sun eyed Wolfgang skeptically, then addressed Kala. “Of course. Nomi and Amanita are coming too.”

“That’s great!” Kala said excitedly, “I miss them.”

“They’ll be happy to see you too,” Sun said, smiling for the first time.

“Thank you. We should get going too,” Kala said, walking away with Wolfgang under Sun’s watchful eyes.

After a brief silence, Kala said, “Look, I know Sun-”

Wolfgang interrupted, “Don’t. You don’t have to explain anything or apologise for anything. Your friend wasn’t wrong.”

Kala nodded with a sigh. There was no point in wasting time talking about it. He didn’t have a lot of it to waste on unpleasant conversations.

Kala took Wolfgang on a tour of her favourite places and watched as Wolfgang drank in the sights. He smiled a lot, laughed once, and she dared think he was truly happy for a brief moment and that she had something to do with it.

The place Kala loved the most, she saved for last. She led Wolfgang up to a hill overlooking a lake so clear it seemed to merge with the sky. Wolfgang sat beside Kala and breathed deeply, trying to commit the view, the smell, and most importantly the company, to his memory. He didn’t know how much time he had left, but he could feel it drawing to an end. The air of easy-going excursions soon shifted to a melancholy one.

It broke Kala’s heart seeing the resolved look on Wolfgang’s face. There was nothing she could say or do that could make it easier for him, so she didn’t try. All she could do when she saw him discreetly wipe a tear that escaped his eyes was to hold his hand in both of hers. They stayed in the same position until night came and with it Will to take him back.

Wolfgang and Kala stood, staring at each other, both speaking at the same time, both stopping at the same time.

“Thank you for everything, Kala. I will never forget today or you,” Wolfgang whispered, certain he would never see her again. She had been the brightest part of his day, not the food and not the freedom. Her kindness, her smile, her sincerity were what touched his heart the most, and losing them was the hardest part.

“Don’t talk like we’re never meeting again,” Kala chastised him. “I will see you next year.”

“You don’t have to say that,” Wolfgang said, trying to absolve her of a promise she would likely regret shortly after his departure.

“I will meet you next year at the fork in the road right before the river. You’d better be there,” Kala insisted, her voice choking mid-sentence. She could hardly keep herself from crying. She had enjoyed his company. His smile, knowing she put it there, was the highlight of her achievements ever since she came to Heaven. He was kind and sincere and Kala hated to see him leave, hated knowing what he was returning to.

“We never decided on a name for you,” Kala said hurriedly as she saw Will, who had been giving them space to say goodbye, walk towards them. “Blue, I’ll call you Blue like the colour of your eyes. We’ll think of a better one when I see you again.”

Wolfgang didn’t bother to hide his tears this time. He gave Kala a watery smile. “Blue sounds fine.”

Before she even thought about what she was doing, Kala threw her arms around him, holding him close. Wolfgang wrapped his arms around her slim waist, careful not to hold her too tight in case his bony arms hurt her. He inhaled deeply with his eyes closed, taking in her scent before reluctantly letting go.

“I’m ready to go,” Wolfgang told Will who silently wrapped an arm around Wolfgang and flew to The Gates. Right on the precipice of Hell, Will turned to Wolfgang. “I can’t take you down right now. I’m sorry. This part you’ll have to do alone.”

Wolfgang nodded, his eyes wide, his face stricken with fear. With Will’s hand on his back, Wolfgang walked to the edge, his breathing laboured. All the peace Heaven had given him was gone and was replaced with terror. A sob escaped him, looking at Will one last time before Will pushed him over.

As soon as he hit the ground, The Servants came for him. Their teeth and claws tore at his flesh with a vengeance. Wolfgang screamed until his voice was gone. One of the wolves lowered its head to Wolfgang’s, sneering, as one of its paws anchored Wolfgang’s face to the ground with razor sharp claws. Wolfgang choked on his own blood over and over again, as he was forced to watch the wolf chew on his heart.

Whispers was right. The Servants did make up for lost time.

********


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter two where many questions are answered :)

Wolfgang knew it was time for his day in Heaven when he found himself in the desert, dressed in the same black pants and shirt. He waited impatiently, anxious to see Kala, but also terrified of the thought she had forgotten about him. His eyes kept scanning the sky for as long as he could without losing them to the sun. Finally, he heard the flaps of powerful wings and spun around in the direction of the sound. It wasn’t Will who came for him this time. Instead it was an Angel with an odd blue strand in her platinum hair.

“Hello, I’m Riley,” she said. “Are you ready for your day in Heaven?”

“Yes, I am.”

Riley took his hand in a firm grip and ascended to Heaven. Just like his first time, Wolfgang felt his heart soar. When they landed just outside the gates, Wolfgang smiled widely.

Riley returned the smile. “Will told me you weren’t afraid of heights,” she said, then walked to The Gates. Wolfgang, eager to feel the peace that descended on him the first time, ran over the threshold.

“Will told me you made a friend?” Riley said conversationally as they walked down the road.

“Maybe,” Wolfgang said, uncertain.

“You’re worried she won’t come?”

“Maybe,” Wolfgang replied, his eyes lowered.

“Would you blame her if she didn’t?”

Wolfgang shook his head, “No.”

They walked for a minute in silence, then Wolfgang asked, “She told me I was different from the other Sinners she’d met. Why am I different, Riley?”

Riley shrugged. “Why don’t you ask Him?”

Wolfgang frowned. “Hasn’t He given up on me already?” 

Riley, in an attempt to change the subject, stopped and turned. “Isn’t this where you’re supposed to meet her?”

Wolfgang looked up and found they were at the place Kala had promised to meet him, but she wasn’t there and his heart dropped.

“Yes, this is the place,” Wolfgang whispered.

“Would you like me to wait with you?” Riley asked softly.

Wolfgang nodded. He wasn’t eager to be on the receiving end of pity when she didn’t show, but he didn’t want Heaven if Kala didn’t meet him. He was willing to beg for Hell in that case.

Wolfgang sat on the side of the road. He was surprised when Riley joined him.

The silence was uncomfortable, so Wolfgang took it upon himself to start a conversation: “Why didn’t Will come this time?”

“He is otherwise occupied,” Riley said vaguely, but one look at Wolfgang’s solemn face made her continue. “He’s been having a rather rough time lately.”

“Angels have a rough time?” Wolfgang asked derisively.

“We are not without feelings,” Riley said defensively.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that,” Wolfgang apologised.

“It’s fine.”

The conversation died after that. They waited for an hour. With every passing minute, Wolfgang’s heart broke a little more. Desolate, Wolfgang stood abruptly and walked back in the direction of The Gates.

Riley rushed after him. “Wait! You can’t go back until the day is over.”

“I know. I’ll just sit here until it’s time to go back,” Wolfgang said, sitting on the floor by The Gates.

“But don’t you want-”

“I don’t,” he interrupted rudely. “If you can’t take me down now, then come pick me up when the day is over.”

Riley sighed, her heart breaking for Wolfgang. “At least let me stay with you,” Riley pleaded.

Wolfgang dropped the attitude and gazed towards the floor. “Please, leave me.”

At a loss, Riley simply squeezed his shoulder, careful not to break his bones. “I’m so sorry,” she said, walking away, turning back to see him sit in the same spot, his arms resting on his knees, with his head bowed in defeat. 

As more time passed, Wolfgang fell asleep.

“Blue!”

Wolfgang’s eyes snapped open and he turned to find Kala running towards The Gates. He rose to his feet as quickly as his brittle bones allowed him.

Kala reached him before he could meet her half-way. She launched herself at him, he almost fell back on impact. Kala wrapped her arms around him just as she did when she said goodbye. She was rambling.

“I stayed up all night. I couldn’t sleep, waited for dawn. I fell asleep. I missed our meeting. I’m sorry. You didn’t think I forgot, did you?” 

Wolfgang didn’t register much of what Kala said. His heart was thudding in his chest, his ears were ringing. He circled her waist with his arms, and inhaled her scent, his face buried in her shoulder. 

“I can’t believe I’ve cost us two hours,” Kala said, letting go. “Let’s go have breakfast, yes?” she said excitedly.

Wolfgang could only manage a nod before Kala pulled at his hand and led the way to her home, filling the silence with stories about how her year had been.

Kala knew not to ask about his favourite food anymore. She just filled the table with too many varieties that Wolfgang didn’t know where to start. They ate while Kala steered the conversation yet again knowing he would have nothing to tell her. She enjoyed how Wolfgang listened attentively and asked questions. She loved how interested in her life and her opinions he was. She also loved how he gradually looked more alive than dead the more he ate.

“Would you like to go for a walk when we’re done?” Kala asked.

“I’ve had my fill of disapproving looks on the way here. Maybe in a little while?” Wolfgang admitted.

Kala eyed him thoughtfully, then tried something. She giggled happily when it worked. In her hands, there was a blue shirt and dark jeans with black socks and shoes on top of them. She gave Wolfgang a shy smile, “We can stay in for as long as you want, but if you wish to go out, you can wear these and no one would be able to tell.”

Wolfgang reached out and took the bundle out of her hands, fingering the soft fabric. His eyes locked on Kala’s for a brief moment then asked where he could change.

Kala showed him to her bedroom then, suddenly embarrassed, she hurried out and closed the door.

Wolfgang changed quickly and checked his reflection in the full length mirror in the corner of her room. He ran his fingers through his hair until he was satisfied with it, then turned to pick up his old clothes only to find them gone. He shrugged not caring where they had disappeared to.

He left Kala’s room and went in search for her. He found her sitting on a small couch watching some show from earth on a large flat screen hanging on the opposite wall. She was so engrossed in the show she didn’t hear him approaching. He cleared his throat making her jump. She turned to him with a smile that faded as soon as she saw him.

Feeling self-conscious, Wolfgang stared at his shoes, “I can’t change back. My old clothes are gone.”

Kala shook her head to clear it, “Why would you want to change back. You look-” Kala paused to find an appropriate word because the word that first came to her mind was “beautiful”. She finally decided on, “-good. You look good.”

The corner of Wolfgang’s mouth lifted. “Thanks.” he stood awkwardly with his hands in his pockets, his shoulders hunched up, “What are you watching?”

Kala patted the couch, gesturing for him to join her. Wolfgang sat with a sigh. The couch was even more comfortable than he initially imagined. Kala told him about her favourite show, asked if he wanted to watch it with her, and Wolfgang agreed.

They watched in silence until Wolfgang started asking questions to understand the plot better and Kala readily answered. They sometimes saw things differently resulting in discussions that they both enjoyed. 

Wolfgang felt alive. He felt his heart expand in a way he had never experienced before as he watched Kala talk animatedly about a character’s motives. He could no longer watch the show. All he wanted was for Kala to keep talking so he could listen to her voice and study her face and get a glimpse of the kind of woman she was. Wolfgang admired how smart and deep she sounded. The discussions they engaged in became more and more challenging, yet they kept up with each other easily.

When Kala noticed Wolfgang staring at her, she asked, “What?”

“You really belong here,” Wolfgang whispered.

“Well, someone agrees with you,” she said jokingly, “Why do you think I belong here though?”

Wolfgang let out a heated breath. “You’re intelligent, thoughtful, kind, passionate,” he shrugged, “I don’t know how to describe it, but I can see how genuinely good your are inside. There’s a brightness to you. I can’t explain it, sorry.”

“You explained it just fine,” she said, whispering, her heart beating fast. Kala knew there was a certain kind of satisfaction that came with being described as beautiful, but she was far more satisfied when Wolfgang didn’t say it. She loved that he seemed to not care about how she looked and just focused on her and who she was. His probing and challenging questions felt as though he was drawing a map of her brain, her thought process, and it made her like him, respect him, even more.

Kala said, her hand on Wolfgang’s, “That’s very kind of you, but if these are the qualities that landed me here, then you belong here too. I see all that in you too, you know.” 

Wolfgang said nothing. He only stared at Kala’s hand over his, lost in thought. He hesitantly lifted her hand to his lips, touching them briefly to her soft skin. Kala kept her hand in his and it encouraged him to press his lips firmly to its back, his eyes closing. He slowly turned her hand over and kissed the inside of her wrist. He opened his eyes and searched hers as he opened her palm and pressed it gently against his cheek.

Kala felt her hand tingle from the kisses and the stubble on Wolfgang’s face. She looked deep into his eyes and saw calm admiration, but also confusion. Kala questioned whether or not what she wanted to do was right, but she did it anyway bringing her other hand to Wolfgang’s face and, leaning in, touched her lips to his. Wolfgang kept his eyes open, not kissing her back. Kala apologised and made to pull away, but Wolfgang’s hands came to her waist, holding her in place. His eyes moved between her eyes and her lips as he leaned in slowly, giving her time to reject him, if she wanted to, but she didn’t. Kala moved in to kiss him again with more confidence. She could hear Wolfgang’s uneven breathing and it worried her.

Kala pulled away just enough to see his eyes and asked him directly, “Are you sure you want to do this? You don’t have-”

“Please,” was all Wolfgang said when he interrupted her.

Kala looked into his eyes again to make sure and found an unmistakable need in them. She lowered her eyes to his lips and found them parting before they touched hers again. Wolfgang touched the tip of his tongue to Kala’s lips and they parted willingly. Their kisses were slow but heated and so were the hands they ran over each other’s bodies, yet none of it felt overtly sexual. It was comforting and familiar as though they had been a couple who had done this a thousand times before. There was no way for either of them to know how much time had passed before they eventually parted. All they knew was that they were both breathless, their lips warm, their bodies relaxed.

Wolfgang’s eyes remained closed, his brows furrowed in thought. 

“Hey,” Kala said, gently tilting his head upwards to encourage him to meet her eyes.

On a sigh, Wolfgang opened his eyes and hesitantly met hers. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Why not?” Kala asked, her heart dropping, the bliss she was feeling dissipating.

“This can’t be good for you. You deserve better than this. What good could possibly come from-”

“Hey!” Kala interrupted him, her tone assertive, “I get to decide what I want to do, I decide what is good for me and what isn’t.”

“I never meant to question your autonomy, Kala. I just-”

Kala interrupted him yet again. “Good. The only thing that matters to me is whether you want this too.”

“I do,” Wolfgang whispered, his eyes apologetic.

“Then it’s settled,” Kala said, quietly. She kept her eyes on Wolfgang’s until he smiled, embarrassed, then shook his head and kissed her again.

They continued watching Kala’s favourite show cuddled up together, discussions ensuing again. They only moved from the couch for food, then returned to their spot on the couch once more. This time they didn’t watch the show. Wolfgang asked about Kala’s favourite book instead. 

They talked until it was almost nighttime. Wolfgang looked out the window, “Do you think we have time to go to your favourite spot by the lake?”

“If we make a run for it,” Kala stated, getting to her feet and stretching out her hand for him to take. He did and they ran out of her house. They soon ran out of breath and finished the trip walking. They made it up the hill, panting. Wolfgang ran the few feet separating him from the edge then stopped, taking in the view as the last rays of light faded. Kala walked to his side and took his hand in hers.

“I came here every day, all year, after I met you,” Kala whispered, watching his face, committing it to memory. “It’s what reminds me of you the most.”

Wolfgang looked down at her, “Why?”

“The sky reflected on the surface of the lake-” Kala said, then looked down, too shy to admit what she was about to, “-reminds me of your eyes.”

Wolfgang turned to face her, letting go of her hand to cup her face in both of his, “At first I thought you were part of my punishment. A sliver of happiness that would make Hell even more intolerable, as if that was even possible. Then as I descended back to The Servants, I realised seeing you again was the only thing that kept me sane.”

Kala let out a heavy sigh and shook her head. All year, she had wracked her brain trying to make sense of him and failed. Nothing about him fit any of the norms or expectations. His presence was different, his essence was different. No Sinner she, or any of her friends, had ever met was well-spoken, intelligent, kind, or put others before themselves. Kala found herself praying for his soul more than once and asking how his Sin was found unforgivable. Kala pursed her lips in a tight line, trying not to cry, but she failed. Tears escaped her eyes on a sob.

Wolfgang’s eyes roamed over face in despair as he wiped away her tears, “Kala, as happy as I am whenever I’m with you, I can’t do this to you. I’m a lost cause. There are so many souls in Heaven that are far more worthy than I ever will be.”

Kala shook her head, holding on to Wolfgang’s wrists. “We already talked about this,” she said, trying to put as much conviction in her voice as she could manage considering how her voice shook with tears, “I’m not giving up on you. I want this.”

“Kala-”

“No!” Kala said, raising a finger to silence him. “I told you the only thing that matters is whether or not you want this and I meant it. Respect my decision, please.”

After a moment of hesitation, Wolfgang nodded, wrapping his arms around her shoulders, holding her close to his body, kissing her temple, and committing the feeling of her to memory.

The sound of wings made them both look up. Will landed a few feet away and closed the rest of the distance on foot. “Kala,” he said in greeting, then his gaze turned to Wolfgang, “Ready to go?”

Wolfgang swallowed and nodded, then looked down at Kala. Her eyes were still wet with tears, the sadness in them mirroring his, “Till next time.”

“Till next time,” Kala repeated, kissing his lips.

Wolfgang released her and turned to Will who wrapped an arm around Wolfgang's waist and took off without a word.

Will flew him down to Hell this time. For a change Wolfgang didn’t descend into Hell face down, swallowing sand. Will let go of him and turned to leave, the Angel more withdrawn than he ever was. Wolfgang watched him fly out of sight, then the quiet was broken by the hungry growls of The Servants. Wolfgang turned to face them, terror eating at his flesh before the wolves joined it.

********

A year later, Wolfgang stood in the desert and waited.

An Angel with black wings came for him this time. As the Angel drew closer, Wolfgang recognised it as Whispers.

“Sinner, are you ready for your day in Heaven?” Whispers said as soon as he landed.

“Yes, I am.”

Whispers laid a heavy hand on Wolfgang’s shoulder and in the blink of an eye, they were standing at The Gates.

“What?” Wolfgang said, puzzled, confusion written all over his face. He tried and failed to understand why Will and Riley flew him to Heaven, if he could be taken to The Gates so easily instead. He wanted to ask Whispers, but the Keeper was as antagonistic as he had always been.

Wolfgang walked over the threshold and the peace that he always felt upon entering still came. For some reason, Wolfgang doubted it would for the simple reason that it was Whispers who walked him through.

“I’ll take it from here.”

Wolfgang swung around upon hearing Will’s familiar voice.

Whispers looked like he was about to argue, but all Will did was raise an eyebrow and Whispers went silent. 

“You can return to your duties, now,” Will said, his tone authoritative.

“Fine,” Whispers said, then turned to walk out of The Gates.

“I don’t understand,” Wolfgang started, his eyes intent on Will’s. “Why did you and Riley fly me up when you didn’t have to?”

“Would you rather we didn’t?” 

Wolfgang groaned as he rolled his eyes.

“Blue!” Kala called out, effectively ending the conversation. Wolfgang’s heart thudded in his chest as he walked to her, slowly, uncertain. 

Kala held out an apple for him with a mischievous smile. Wolfgang knew she was reminding him of the first time they met, the time when he asked if she wanted him kicked out of Heaven.

He smiled, taking the apple from her, turning it in his hand. “I only just got here. Sick of me already?”

“Never,” Kala said, smiling radiantly. She could see the doubt in his eyes and took it upon herself to erase it. She stood on the tips of her toes and pecked him on the lips. His wide smile after she did, told her she had been successful. She kissed him again, then took his hand and walked to her house. He asked her if she had watched any new shows or read any new books. Her answers to both was a yes. They discussed the book, but not the show. Kala suggested they watch some of it together instead.

Upon reaching her house, Kala took a turn through the garden and directly to the patio where the table was already set, but the food was still steaming. They had just sat at the table and started to eat when they were interrupted by what Wolfgang would remember later as a bundle of energy.

“Oh! I’m sorry, Kala. I didn’t know you had a guest,” he said to Kala then turned to Wolfgang, extending his hand. “Hello, I’m Lito. Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Wolfgang said, shaking Lito’s offered hand.

“Do you mind if I join you?” he asked, addressing Wolfgang.

“I’m not the owner of the house,” Wolfgang said.

“Sit down, Lito,” Kala said exasperatedly. “And drop the surprised act. I know you know what day it is.”

Wolfgang snickered as he took a bite of pancake.

“Can you blame me for watching out for my sister?” Lito said, his face serious, yet still smiling.

“No, not at all,” Wolfgang answered. “I’m glad Kala has such protective friends,” he said truthfully.

“Sun was right. You are peculiar,” Lito said, his eyes narrowing as if that would help him get to the bottom of the mystery.

Wolfgang only shrugged as he took a sip of orange juice.

The three of them ate breakfast while Lito did most of the talking. He told a story about how Kala was an amazing dancer, comparing her to a vision. To that, Wolfgang nodded in agreement.

Lito’s eyebrows lifted in surprise, “You’ve seen Kala dance?”

Wolfgang shook his head, “No, but the word ‘vision’ is how I described her to myself when I saw her for the first time.”

Kala blushed in embarrassment, looking down at her hands, while Lito simply smiled.

“Do you dance?” Lito asked.

“I don’t think so,” Wolfgang answered, wondering if he ever did in his previous life.

“Well, let’s see then,” Lito said, pushing back his chair and walking around the table to stand by Wolfgang, his hand outstretched. Wolfgang’s eyes narrowed marginally, but accepted Lito’s hand as Kala giggled.

Music started playing inside the house and what ensued afterwards was the funniest thing Kala had seen in a long time. Attempted twirls and dips gone wrong with Wolfgang tripping on his own feet, or falling on top of a laughing Lito, or taking Lito down with him as he tried to break his own fall. 

Wolfgang’s body was stiff and uncooperative at first, but he soon laughed at his own mistakes and accepted the challenge, trying again and again until he got the moves right. 

Lito smiled at him with pride. “My work here is done. Now you can dance with Kala,” Lito said with a kind smile.

“Thank you,” Wolfgang said, his voice warm.

“My pleasure,” Lito said with a slight bow of his head, then turned to Kala, “I’ll see you later tonight, my dear,” he said as he held her hands, then kissed her forehead. He walked to the door and opened it, then turned to Wolfgang, “I’ll see you next year, my friend,” he said before walking out and closing the door.

Wolfgang turned to Kala, his face flushed and his eyes bright. Kala walked to him, took his face in her hands, and kissed him the way she had been craving since she met him at The Gates. 

She fused her lips to his, her tongue teasing them open, her body arching against him. Wolfgang’s lips sucked on hers as he ran his hands over her back and sides. When Kala moaned quietly, he dared graze her breasts with his thumbs. It seemed he touched a sensitive spot, for Kala’s hips angled towards his. The friction gave him an unfamiliar feeling, but it was deliciously electric. He could feel it starting in his groin and spreading to his body. Without putting much thought into it, he held her hips in his hands and rubbed himself against her. Kala moaned louder this time, her hands tugging at his hair, her lips at his jaw. Wolfgang walked her back to the couch. He was half on top of her, grinding himself against her thigh, a hand kneading one of her breasts while he sucked on the tender flesh of her neck. Suddenly overwhelmed, Wolfgang stopped. 

“I’m sorry, Kala,” he whispered breathlessly against her neck. “I’m so sorry.”

With her brain still in a haze, Kala couldn’t speak at first, confused, but Wolfgang’s repeated apologies gave her the focus she needed. “What’s wrong?” she asked, trying to calm her breathing. When Wolfgang would neither answer nor look up, Kala pulled his face away from her neck, forcing him to look at her. “Talk to me,” she demanded.

Wolfgang straightened and sat with his elbows on his knees, his face hidden in his hands. He could feel Kala straighten too. Only when her hand tugged at his, did he finally meet her eyes. 

“Please, Kala, don’t think that I don’t want you. I do, but I don’t know what happened,” Wolfgang started, struggling with words. “I couldn’t breathe or move. I don’t know if Hell broke me, or-”

“No, stop right there,” Kala said, her voice quiet and her tone kind despite how unsettled she was over the abrupt pause. “Hell couldn’t break you before, so I don’t think it can now,” she said soothingly. “This was probably too much, too soon for both of us. It’s a good thing you stopped it.”

“No!” Wolfgang exclaimed heatedly. “No, you don’t understand, Kala. It was overwhelming, like my heart could’ve just stopped beating, it was-” Wolfgang paused, frowning, then continued with his eyes wide and confused. “Kala, is this what love feels like?”

Kala’s eyes widened as well, meeting his. “You think you’re in love with me?”

Wolfgang stared at Kala, his mind racing, remembering one of their discussions while watching her show. They had discussed one of the character’s motivations to do what he did and suddenly everything fell into place. “No, Kala. I  _ know _ that I’m in love with you,” Wolfgang said, his tone firm. “I won’t hold it against you if you don’t feel the same for me, but it’s how I feel,” he finished dejectedly.

Kala’s heart squeezed in her chest, she was almost dizzy with the emotional whiplash. “You’re all I think about from the moment you leave till the moment I see you again. I run to my friends everytime you leave and I cry all night while they try and fail to help me.” She took one of his hands in hers and whispered, “Don’t you see? I’m in love with you too.”

Wolfgang stared at Kala in disbelief, then letting out a relieved breath, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and asked, “How is that even possible?”

Understanding what he meant, Kala answered, “I don’t know. Our lives couldn’t be more different, but if a Dweller of Heaven and a tormented soul were never meant to be together, then why did He allow it?”

Wolfgang sighed, kissed her temple, then said, “I don’t know, but I don’t want to waste a moment thinking about it. If all I’m allowed with you is a few hours every year, then I’ll take it.”

“Me too,” Kala said, tightly wrapping her arms around Wolfgang’s waist.

Wolfgang kissed the top of her head, rested his cheek against her hair. “I knew from the first moment I met you that you would somehow change my life and you did. Is it normal to fall in love so quickly? I don’t think I’ve ever been.”

“I don’t think so, but I think nothing about you is normal,” she said, attempting to joke, but it came out as the truth that it was. Nothing about Wolfgang fit what she and everyone else already knew about Sinners.

They spent the rest of the day in each other’s arms, sometimes in comfortable silence and sometimes Kala would tell him about her friends. They ate inside, wrapped around each other, holding on tighter the lower the sun became. They didn’t go to the lake this time and waited for Will in the garden. They’d already said their goodbyes by the time Will came to pick up Wolfgang. 

When it was time, Wolfgang kissed Kala lightly on the lips and said, “Until next time.”

“Until next time,” she said, holding back the tears that would surely come, and watched as Wolfgang disappeared into the night.

The same as the time before, Will flew him down to hell and turned to leave as soon as their feet touched the ground.

“Will!” Wolfgang called out, his tone urgent, distraught. When Will turned to face him, Wolfgang asked, “Tell me there’s a way I can get out of here. How do I get out of here?”

Will’s eyes bore into Wolfgang’s. “Pray!” he said, then shot up to the sky without a backward glance.

Upon hearing the familiar growls of the wolves, Wolfgang immediately dropped to his knees in supplication, his hands folded, and prayed in a language he never knew he spoke as the wolves came for him.

********

The next year, Wolfgang found Kala already waiting for him. She ran to him as soon as his feet were over the threshold and flung herself at him. Wolfgang wrapped his arms around her, lifting her off the ground, and buried his face in her neck like he always did. When he finally set her down, he turned to Will, surprised that he was still there, surprised to see him smiling for the first time in the last two years.

“I’ll leave you two to enjoy your day,” Will said, “I’ll see you later, Blue.”

Wolfgang merely nodded then turned to Kala to take her hand and walk to her house. The same as before, Kala was the one to fill the silence as Wolfgang listened attentively and occasionally commented. 

They had breakfast in the garden as though they were on a picnic. It never ceased to amaze Kala how different Wolfgang looked after he had eaten. He never looked the way he must have when he was on Earth, but he definitely looked better, healthier, than when he first walked through The Gates.

Kala grinned when Wolfgang asked her to dance with him. She agreed excitedly and ran into the house with Wolfgang following her closely. He wrapped his arms around her waist before the music even played. Wolfgang swayed with her then twirled a giggling Kala while she struggled to focus on what to play. 

When Wolfgang suddenly stopped smiling, letting go of Kala’s hand, her giggles died down. When his eyes glazed over and his breathing became erratic, Kala’s heart dropped. She held his face in her hands, worry etched on her own and repeatedly called his name. 

Wolfgang’s eyes finally focused on hers and, still breathless, he said in a whisper, “That’s not my name. I think I remember my name.” 

With that final statement, Wolfgang’s ears started ringing unbearably. He held his hands to his ears and cried out in pain. Before his eyes rolled back in his head, before he fell to the ground unconscious, he could hear one word: Wolfgang.

Kala fell to her knees by Wolfgang’s head as soon as he hit the ground. She desperately called out to Will over and over, praying the Angel of Peace could hear her.

********

“ _ Creature of light, you shall be a Soldier of Earth. You shall know obedience and unwavering loyalty, strength and perseverance, camaraderie and brotherhood, justice and punishment. Wolfgang, Angel of Vengeance, rise and serve your calling _ .”

With these words emblazoned intricately on his heart, Wolfgang was created and sent to earth.

A millennia of memories flashed before Wolfgang’s eyes in the speed of lightning except for two that Wolfgang re-lived in detail.

The first was the order to cause the death of two souls. One of them was of a Sinner, Rajan Rasal, the owner of a pharmaceutical company which distributed counterfeit drugs resulting in numerous deaths. The other was his wife, Kala Dandekar, an innocent. 

Wolfgang was never one to disobey, but his obedience never kept him from questioning. Questions weren’t forbidden, but deviating from His plan was. Wolfgang always received the same answer to his question of “Why take an innocent?” but the answer was hardly satisfactory. He was always told that it served a balance and that it was often a mercy. Seeing the answer as insufficient, he never stopped questioning. Why take an innocent when exacting vengeance on a sinning soul, while allowing other Sinners to run amok on earth, hurting innocents without punishment?

Wolfgang carried out the order despite his uncertainty. However, after he did, something sparked within him, something he had never experienced throughout his entire existence: anger. He didn’t speak of the foreign emotion to anyone, not even to his brother Will, so it festered and ate at his light. So, when Wolfgang saw a father beat up his child time and time again without divine intervention to alleviate the boy’s suffering, the anger Wolfgang knew for the first time and failed to understand or control, reared its head and he took the Sinner’s life without orders.

The second memory Wolfgang re-lived vividly was the agony of his wings being torn off his back before falling into darkness. 

When the memories finally stopped, Wolfgang was summoned to The Throne.

********

Wolfgang opened his eyes to the concerned faces of Will and Kala. He remained on the floor for the longest time reorienting himself to his surroundings, ignoring their pleas for him to speak. He finally rose to his feet, his face solemn, and addressed Will, “Could you give us a moment, brother?”

Will’s eyes widened, letting out a trembling breath “Then it’s true. You remember your name.”

Wolfgang’s eyes met Will’s, “I do, brother.”

Kala’s teary eyes moved between them in confusion, “Can someone please explain to me what just happened?” 

“Yeah, I- I will leave you to it. I just-” Will stuttered, then gave up on forming a coherent sentence. He wrapped his arms tightly around Wolfgang, whispering, “I’ve missed you, Wolfgang.”

Wolfgang nodded his head against Will’s shoulder, returning the embrace just as tightly.

Will finally let go and slowly walked out to the garden. He looked back at Wolfgang for a second, then took flight, the sight pulling at Wolfgang’s heart. He could literally feel his heart push into his chest, telling him to join his brother, the Angel along whom he had worked for millennia, but Wolfgang didn’t have his wings, yet.

Kala and Wolfgang turned their heads towards each other at the same time. Wolfgang shortened the distance between them to hold her face in his hands, staring into her eyes. He was lost for words. He couldn’t think of a single thing to say.

“Wolfgang?” Kala whispered, “Your name is Wolfgang?” 

Kala’s question showed him where to start, “We should sit down.”

Kala took his hand wordlessly and led him to the couch. She sat, pulling him down to sit beside her, keeping his hand between both of hers like she always did.

“Yes, my name is Wolfgang,” he started, then hesitantly continued, “I am an earth Angel of Vengeance,” he started, studying Kala’s face as she gasped, then held her breath. “I sinned, I was stripped of my wings, and sent to Hell as punishment.”

Kala’s wide, unblinking eyes met his as she let out the breath she had been holding. He waited for her to gather her thoughts. He was certain that as soon as she did, she would start asking questions. As he waited for her, he thought of every possible question she could ask and prepared his answers.

“You’re an Angel?” was her first question, her tone disbelieving.

“As much of an Angel as I can be without my wings, but yes.” 

“And the Sin that sent you to Hell was killing someone?” she asked, skeptical.

Wolfgang nodded.

“Isn’t that what Angels of Vengeance do?” 

“I killed without orders,” Wolfgang explained, raising a hand to silence Kala’s next question, “There’s something I need to tell you. Your questions may change after you learn the whole story.”

Kala nodded, shock and disbelief still eating at her.

“A few centuries after I answered my calling, I repeatedly questioned the reasoning behind innocents dying alongside sinners. I was never satisfied with the answer I received everytime and that was when I knew anger for the first time,” Wolfgang started, his eyes sharp on Kala’s stunned face. “I never spoke of it, never made sense if it. I just buried it deep, thinking if I did, I would overcome it. I was wrong. I obeyed an order that led to the death of a man and his wife in a car accident. The man was rotten and deserved it, the wife was not. She was an innocent and her death was all my anger needed to take over. A year later, I saw what I believed was an injustice. I let anger rule my decision to take the life of a Sinner who hurt his child and that was how I ended up in Hell.”

Wolfgang watched as Kala’s eyes went from stunned, to thoughtful, to horrified. She raised a finger, her voice barely audible, she said, “Wait. That woman-”

“Was you, Kala,” Wolfgang interrupted.

“I’m the reason why you were sent to Hell?” Kala whispered, tears welling in her eyes.

“No, Kala,” Wolfgang said in a tone she had never heard from him before. It was assertive, authoritative, confident. “It started long before you, and it didn’t end with you. It was my own fault, my own Sin.”

“How can you say that? I was the catalyst, the last straw. I was what tipped you over.” Guilt, as unreasonable as it was, gripped her heart in a vice and manifested itself as tears.

“None of this was your fault, Kala. Earth is a wretched place that didn’t deserve you. Handing your soul over to the Angel of Death was a mercy. I know that now, I didn’t then. You told me so yourself when I first met you,” Wolfgang insisted and prayed for her to understand. 

Kala gave Wolfgang no indication whether or not she took his words to heart. Instead she asked, “What happened just now when you fell?”

Wolfgang let out a breath, pulling his hand from hers. He got to his feet, ran both hands through his hair, and paced a few times, then finally stopped to face Kala. Her pale face made him hesitate, but he knew he couldn’t stall any longer, “I was given my name back. I was reminded of my calling, reminded of my sin, and I was given a choice.”

“What choice?” Kala asked, but was afraid of the answer. She knew it would tear her to pieces.

Wolfgang lowered his gaze to the ground, his voice soft, “I could either stay in Hell and be with you, or I get my wings back and return to Earth.”

Kala rose to her feet, her voice shaking with unbridled fear, “Why can’t you get your wings back and still come to me?”

Wolfgang finally met her eyes, “Angels don’t fall in love, Kala. We don’t crave each other, we don’t crave humans. We are built above the vulnerability of love and sexual desire.” Unshed tears filled Wolfgang’s eyes. “If I take my wings back, if I return to earth, I will no longer feel my love for you.”

“So, if you choose me, you remain in Hell for all of eternity, and if you get your wings back, I lose you for all of eternity?” Kala asked, her voice shaking as tears streamed down her face, her eyes brimming with misery.

“And I lose you, Kala,” Wolfgang said, wiping her tears away with his thumbs, only for more tears to fall in their place.

Kala shook her head after a brief pause. “The way I see it, this is not even a choice worth considering,” she whispered. “Accept the offer,” Kala said through her tears, “You don’t belong in Hell. You never did. It may not have been entirely my fault you ended up there to begin with-” she placed a finger on Wolfgang’s lips to keep him from arguing, “-but if I have the power to get you out if it, then I will.” 

“Kala-”

“It’s the right thing to do. You can’t go back to Hell, you shouldn’t. I forbid you,” Kala ordered him. “Even if you decline the offer, you will never see me again. I won’t allow it, Wolfgang, so you will have stayed for nothing. You cannot ignore your calling.”

Wolfgang’s eyes searched Kala’s and saw that she meant every word. He could see how much it hurt her, but the conviction in her voice and her certainty in her ability to stay away were beyond any doubt. She was fighting for his soul with all she had, her love for him so strong he could almost touch it. Wolfgang’s love for her was just as strong, but what good would it be to be so in love with her when she won’t have him if he stays? Wolfgang would also be lying if he said he didn’t want his wings back knowing what he knew now. Remembering who he was and the nature of his being, he ached for his wings. 

“I love you, Kala,” Wolfgang whispered heatedly in an attempt to convey how his love for her was beyond doubt. It was all he could say. Words fell short of what he needed to express. Wolfgang felt guilty, torn, but the woman he loved chose for him. Absolved him of a promise he never made. Gave him his freedom. Allowed him to have a second chance at the life he was created for.

“I love you too, my Angel,” Kala said with a sad smile on her lips, pulling Wolfgang’s head to hers, fusing her lips to his in a searing kiss. When they finally parted, breathless, Kala whispered, still holding Wolfgang’s face in her hands, “What now?”

Wolfgang swallowed loudly, “Now I pray for my wings.”

Kala nodded, releasing him, “I want to see it. Pray for your wings here.”

“Kala, I don’t know if-”

“Try!” she demanded. She didn’t understand the urge to see for herself because she had no doubt he was telling the truth, the same way she had no doubt that her heart was about to shatter beyond salvation. 

Wolfgang closed his eyes and nodded. After what she had just given him, how could he deny her a final request. So, he lowered himself to his knees, brought his hands together, and prayed in a language Kala had never heard before. 

Kala’s eyes widened and her breath caught in her chest as a light so bright shone inside Wolfgang’s chest. It seemed to emanate from his heart, making it, and its powerful beats, visible to her eyes. She took a few steps back as the light shone brighter and brighter until it engulfed Wolfgang’s kneeling figure, until her eyes could no longer withstand it. Kala closed her eyes and turned her head away, yet the light was so bright she had to hide her face in her elbow. She could feel a wave of warmth wrap around her which soon became too warm. It reached a point where it burned, taking her breath away, sending her to her knees.

When the burning heat finally abated, and afraid that Wolfgang was gone, Kala quickly turned. The sight that met her eyes kept her on her knees.

Before her was an Angel mid-creation. The light within him shone through his entire body, exposing muscle and sinew, but it slowly receded towards his heart until, after three more beats, the light was trapped in his heart once again.

The Angel before her was a true Angel of Vengeance, with broad shoulders, strong arms and chest, and powerful thighs wrapped in black. His armour was made of fabric and leather, clinging to him like a second skin. His hair shone in a halo around his head as though it were reflecting the rays of a blazing sun, his blue eyes shone an electric blue, a frown on his beautiful chiseled face. Gone were the bony hands and bony shoulders, gone were the vulnerable, haunted eyes, chapped lips and hollow cheeks. Her Blue was gone.

In slow, measured steps, the Angel walked towards her, offering her his hand. Kala stared at it for a few seconds then hesitantly placed her hand in his. He gently helped her to her feet, his luminous eyes never leaving her bewildered ones.

Kala gathered what little courage she had and asked, “Do you know who I am?”

“I remember you, Kala. I remember everything,” Wolfgang answered, his voice quiet, but without inflection. 

Kala’s house could hardly contain Wolfgang’s presence. It seemed as though his strength and ferocity could blow through the walls at any moment.

“You’re gone,” Kala whimpered.

“I am re-born,” Wolfgang corrected her, then upon seeing her anguished face, he added, “I will never forget you, Kala, or forget everything you have done for me, everything you have given me. I will be eternally grateful.”

Kala pursed her lips to keep them from trembling. She inhaled deeply and straightened her shoulders, “Of course.”

“I owe you,” Wolfgang stated, his voice low, kind, almost feverish, showing her a flash of his old self.

“You don’t owe me anything, Wolfgang,” Kala said, on the verge of losing her control over her emotions. “I think you should go now.”

Wolfgang studied Kala’s face for a moment, then nodded curtly and walked to the front door, his shoulders straight, his footsteps confident, his aura powerful.

Kala followed him out to the garden where he stopped and turned, “You are where you belong, Kala. I’m sorry I ever doubted that,” he said before he bent his knees and pushed off the ground, shaking it, spreading glorious white wings as he ascended towards the sky. Kala kept her eyes on him until she no longer could.

********


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the third and final part. I hope you enjoy it :))
> 
> Thank you all so much for reading, commenting, and leaving kudos. I appreciate it more than I can tell you <3

Kala’s heart never mended. She missed Wolfgang with all her being. Her memories of him, as few as they were, were all that kept her going. The peace of Heaven brought her no peace, no happiness. She went on with her life because there was nothing else she could do.

Kala saw Will a year after Wolfgang's departure. His kind eyes searched hers and he easily saw what she tried to hide. He walked with her that day, asked how she was doing, and listened attentively as she tried to deflect. Before he left, he said, “You can ask me about him if you want.”

Kala shook her head, “I don’t know your Wolfgang. I only know my Blue and he’s gone.”

Will nodded in understanding. “As you wish. Till next time, Kala,” he said then flew away right before Kala broke down in tears.

Kala ran into Riley a year after her chance meeting with Will. Like Will, she could see what Kala was trying to hide. She walked with Kala that day, asked how she was doing, and listened attentively as she tried to deflect. Before she left, she said, “You can ask me about him if you want.”

Kala chuckled humorlessly. “Like I told Will, I don’t know your Wolfgang. I only know mine and he’s gone.”

Riley touched a hand to Kala’s shoulder, “I understand. Till next time, Kala.” Then she flew away right before Kala broke down in tears.

Kala met Will a year after meeting Riley. He could see what Kala could no longer hide. He walked with her that day, asked how she was doing, and listened attentively as she tried to explain how lost and bereft she felt, careful not to speak Wolfgang's name.

“You can ask me about him if you want,” Will said.

“I’m afraid to. I’m afraid to hear his name or speak it. I’m afraid I’ll break beyond repair,” Kala said truthfully, her eyes tearful.

Will took her hand in his, “If it’s any consolation, he asks me about you.”

Kala’s eyes widened in surprise, her heart thudded in her chest as a flicker of hope shone within her, only to die as soon as it did, “Why would an Angel of Vengeance ask about me? That doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t change anything.”

“It doesn’t?” Will asked without waiting for a reply, “Till next time, Kala,” he said then flew away before he could hear Kala say, “Till next time.”

One year after, she ran into Will and Riley. She called out their names, waved at them with a smile on her face. They flew over and, searching her face, they could see Kala had nothing to hide. They both walked with her that day and asked how she was doing.

“I miss him,” Kala said wistfully. “For the longest time I couldn’t wrap my head around what happened, I couldn’t reconcile my Wolfgang with yours. For the longest time, I mourned him,” Kala sighed. “I now realise I didn’t have to because my Wolfgang was an Angel in Hell, tormented, powerless and lonely. He is the same Wolfgang now, but back to his true self, serving his purpose, hopefully happy.”

“You think Wolfgang fell in love with you out of loneliness?” Riley asked.

“I don’t know why he fell in love with me,” Kala admitted.

Will sighed, “I know why and it wasn’t loneliness, Kala.”

Kala would have asked, but she knew Will wouldn’t answer.

The three of them walked in comfortable silence for a while, then Kala asked, “How is he doing?”

The smiles Will and Riley gave her were so bright she had to smile as well.

“He’s Wolfgang,” Riley said with shake of her head. “He’s vengeful and broody.”

Will chuckled then said, “He’s doing good. He’s serving his purpose and bringing balance to earth. He no longer questions though. You gave him certainty, Kala. You should be proud. Thanks to you, he has that now and it makes him even stronger than before.”

Kala smiled. “I’m happy for him,” she said sincerely.

“We should return to Earth,” Riley said and turned to meet Kala’s eyes. “We’re happy for  _ you _ , Kala,” she said, holding both of Kala’s hands in hers, while Will nodded in agreement.

“Thank you,” Kala said, squeezing Riley’s deceptively soft hands.

Riley let go of Kala. She was about to turn and leave with Will, but Kala stopped them. “Would you send him my regards, please?” Kala asked with a shy smile.

“Of course,” Will said and closed his eyes briefly. He opened them shortly after. “He says thank you and asked me to send you his. Till next time, Kala,” he said, exchanging a look with Riley to which she nodded, then both flew away, leaving behind a befuddled Kala with her eyes wide and her heart beating too fast.

********

Kala was sitting in her garden, reading a book, when the shadow of wings obscured the sun. She looked up expecting it to be Will checking in on her, but it wasn’t. 

“Wolfgang,” she whispered to herself, her eyes staring at the hovering Angel.

“May I?” Wolfgang asked, gesturing towards the ground.

It took Kala a moment to understand the question, but when she did, she nodded hurriedly. “Please,” she said, dropping her book and rising to her feet.

Wolfgang landed gracefully, his wings retracting then disappearing. He looked even more beautiful, more intimidating, more intense than Kala remembered.

“What brings you here, Wolfgang?” Kala asked, slightly breathless with how fast her heart was beating.

“If I’m making you uncomfortable, I will leave immediately,” Wolfgang said, frowning, already stepping back.

“No, please don’t,” Kala said, taking as many steps forward as he was taking back, she only stopped when he did. “I’m just surprised to see you here. It’s been awhile since I last saw you.”

Wolfgang looked down, hesitating, then looked up again. “I didn’t want to bother you with my presence should we run into each other, so I remained on Earth,” Wolfgang explained.

“This is your first time in Heaven in over four years?” Kala asked incredulously.

“I’ve been to The Throne, I just didn’t stop by here on my way up.”

“Wolfgang,” Kala whispered kindly, “With how endless Heaven is, the chances of us-”

“This is my favourite part,” Wolfgang interrupted, his eyes searching hers.

“Why are you here, Wolfgang?” Kala asked, her confusion tangible.

“I was- I’m not,” Wolfgang stuttered, showing a vulnerability that Kala remembered all too well. “I was never good with words,” he finally said.

“You never seemed to have that problem before.”

“I wasn’t exactly myself at that time. There are things you don’t know about me.”

When Kala remained quiet, Wolfgang took a deep breath and asked, “Can we just talk for a little while?”

Kala walked back to the couch, then after taking a seat, she patted the empty space by her side.

The familiar gesture tugged at Wolfgang’s memories, bringing them to the forefront of his mind. He walked slowly towards the couch as Kala waited patiently. He sat by her side, staring ahead, his back straight, and his hands in fists on his knees. He truly looked like a soldier. 

“How have you been?” Wolfgang finally asked, then mentally beat himself up over the unoriginal question. 

Wolfgang needn't have worried though, because Kala answered it anyway. Not knowing if she would ever see him again, Kala decided to let it all out. She needed to tell him everything, give herself closure, finally turn the page and start over, “I was in a very dark place for a very long time,” she started, her words and her voice forcing Wolfgang to turn his head and meet her eyes. “I mourned you. I couldn’t make sense of any of it until all the puzzle pieces started to fall into place.”

“How? How did they?” Wolfgang asked, hanging on to her every word.

“Everything that was peculiar about you suddenly became perfectly understandable. I finally understood why you couldn’t remember your life before Hell. Angels don’t eat, so I understood why you couldn’t think of a favourite kind of food. Angels don’t fall in love and that was why you were so overwhelmed,” Kala sighed. “Most importantly, you are an Angel, and although Angels do feel pain, your souls cannot be broken by Hell, and that’s why you remained the same. That was what finally gave me some closure.” Seeing how troubled his eyes had become, Kala rested a tentative hand on Wolfgang’s, then continued, “At first I believed I didn’t know you, but then I realised that I did and that the Sinner I remember was in fact the Angel, just without his wings. That’s when the two of you became one and the same.”

Kala watched Wolfgang’s jaw tick as he nodded, seemingly lost in thought. “How have you been?” she asked with an encouraging smile.

“Confused,” Wolfgang said, finally relaxing his hand, turning his palm over to join his fingers with Kala’s fragile ones. When she let him and squeezed his hand, he finally allowed his entire body to relax. “There have been things that didn’t make sense before that made sense now. Like why Will and Riley insisted on flying me up to Heaven and down to hell. Why Will seemed so troubled sometimes when he did.”

When Wolfgang didn’t elaborate, Kala asked, “Why?”

Wolfgang shook his head, “They thought that by doing that they would somehow remind me of who I really am. They wanted to give me something of my previous life that I truly loved,” he smiled, “As for Will, in a term that you would be familiar with, he is my oldest friend. We’ve always worked together, we balance out each other’s work in a way. He had to work with another Angel and it didn’t feel right for either of them. It made him miserable.”

“I remember he was so happy when he learned you’d remembered your name,” Kala said wistfully.

“Yeah, he was,” Wolfgang smiled.

They sat together in comfortable silence, thinking about what the other had said, until Wolfgang’s eyes fell on the book Kala had been reading,  _ Angels and Demons.  _ “You like Dan Brown?” he asked, amused by the title.

Kala smiled, slightly embarrassed, slightly confused. He was different from the Angel she met for the first time in her house. He seemed more relaxed, more like her Blue. “Yes, I do. Have you read any of his works?”

“I have. I’ve recently read  _ Inferno _ ,” he answered, a smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth.

Kala shook her head and giggled, “We’re quite a pair, aren’t we?”

“Yeah,” Wolfgang answered quietly.“Would you like to go for a walk?”

The request surprised Kala, but she nodded in agreement anyway.

They walked in silence for a few minutes while Kala watched in confusion how others seemed nervous whenever they passed them by. As if reading her thoughts, Wolfgang said, “People are uncomfortable around Angels of Vengeance.”

“Come to think of it, I’ve only rarely seen any Angel of Vengeance in Heaven to begin with. Why do people feel uncomfortable though? How do they even know you’re an Angel of Vengeance? Keepers wear black too,” Kala asked.

“The insignia on our armours is a dead giveaway-” Wolfgang said, pointing to the insignia on his armour’s chestplate that Kala never noticed before, “- and they’re uneasy because we’re violent, intimidating,” Wolfgang continued, his eyes on Kala’s face, “They’re comfortable around Will and Riley, for example, because they’re both Angels of Peace. People can feel it, like an aura. Vengeful Angels don’t give peaceful vibes.”

Kala frowned. “But, I don’t feel any negativity coming from you.”

Kala stopped in her tracks and swung around to face Wolfgang when she felt it again, that same feeling she had after Wolfgang’s re-birth, the same restless, barely contained energy. She let out a breath as Wolfgang’s eyes shone the same electric blue she saw for the first time that fateful day. 

Kala took a deep breath, “Ok, I get it now. You can turn it back off or whatever,” she said as she started walking again, Wolfgang easily keeping up with her.

“Turn it off?” Wolfgang smiled, “It’s a feeling, Kala, a passion for justice and vengeance. Once I focus on that drive, it all comes forward. This is who I am all the time,” Wolfgang chose his words carefully then continued, “It’s just that now, I feel peaceful.”

Kala studied his profile and watched as his eyes became less fiery, less intense, as his energy seemed to dissipate. “Ok, I have questions.”

“Of course you do,” Wolfgang said, his smile widening.

Kala always loved his smile. It was unguarded, boyish, innocent even. Kala couldn’t help but smile back, her smile just as wide as his, “I know Demons exist because every creation must have its opposite to maintain balance, so do you ever fight Demons?”

“Of course,” Wolfgang said, then knowing this answer would not satisfy Kala’s knowledge-hungry brain, he elaborated, “We exact vengeance on humans. We level entire cities to the ground, Kala. The orders to take single lives is only a small part of the calling. Naturally, we do that with Demons as well.”

Kala’s brain was in overdrive, her inquisitive nature taking over, “How strong are the Demons?”

“Strong enough for some fights to be bloody.”

Kala’s eyes widened in concern, stopping to face him once again, “Did you fight any in the last four years? Did you get hurt?”

“Yes and yes,” Wolfgang answered, his eyes searching hers. “Worried about me?” he whispered.

Kala pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear nervously, she failed to understand the intensity behind his question, she wondered what happened to the stoic Wolfgang who shook the ground as he took flight and disappeared out of her life. “Of course, I care about people.”

A ghost of a smile played at the corners of Wolfgang’s mouth.“Don’t worry about me,” he said as he gently touched the rogue strand that still escaped its confines despite Kala’s efforts. “The fights may be bloody, but unlike Demons, Angels don’t die. Only an Angel can kill another Angel.”

“Lucifer is an Angel,” Kala frowned.

“A Fallen. He no longer has the power,” he said dismissively, then raised a finger to hold off her next question. “That’s all I can say about him.” He chuckled at Kala’s crestfallen face. “Next question?”

Kala’s questions seemed endless, but Wolfgang patiently answered them all. It was only fair. When he was a Sinner, Kala had to answer all his questions, had to let him in on every detail in her life. It was now her turn to know him as well as he knew her. 

By the time Wolfgang answered her last question, they were both surprised to find themselves at the lake that Kala loved, their feet having led them there subconsciously. Wolfgang thought it should not feel this melancholy anymore, but it did, and he knew from Kala’s face that she felt the same.

Kala closed her eyes briefly, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. She opened her eyes as she whispered, “I haven’t been here in four years.”

Wolfgang looked down at his heavy boots, “I’m sorry.”

Kala dismissed his apology with a wave of her hand. “Neither of us had any control over what happened.”

“Kala, I can’t thank you enough-”

“No, I don’t want a thank you or an apology,” Kala interrupted, shaking her head, her eyes on his insignia. “Wolfgang, I have decided as soon as I saw you today that I won’t hold back, I won’t hide. I won’t keep anything from you,” she swallowed nervously, “I need you to know something. I may have learned to live with the fact that you can never be mine, but that doesn’t mean that I ever stopped loving you,” Kala choked on tears as she spoke the last part of statement. “I don’t know what you expect with your return, but-”

It was Wolfgang’s turn to interrupt, “Kala, I didn’t just come here to check on you. There’s something else that I’d like to tell you, something I’d like to ask you.”

Kala took a bracing breath then nodded.

Taking courage from her words, Wolfgang tried to put everything he felt into words. ”For us to have been together, I would have had to stay in Hell, but you refused that, and for that I am grateful. I ached to have my wings back and you encouraged me to take them.” Wolfgang said, tentatively reaching out for Kala’s hand. When she placed her palm in his, he sighed, “When I left, I thought that you would only be a beautiful memory of a time I wish I could forget, but just that, a memory.” He took a second to read Kala’s face before he whispered, “I was wrong, Kala. You weren’t just a memory, you were all I thought about. I believed I was meant to wait it out, that the thoughts would fade, but the memories never stopped. I fulfilled my duties as was expected of me, yet it was you I thought about when the sun came up and when the sun came down. I am not the same as I was before I met you.”

Kala finally looked up as she took a trembling breath. She found it hard to look into his eyes, the intensity of them still new to her, yet she couldn’t look away, “What are you trying to tell me?” she whispered, her head tilting to the side, studying his face, his expressions. Those were still new to her too.

“I asked if something was wrong with me. I was told to have patience, to wait, and I did, until Will told me one day that you were sending me your regards. I can’t explain how I felt when he said that. I wasn’t familiar with feelings until I met you. It was all foreign to me. That was when I couldn’t wait any longer. I asked again what was wrong with me. I was told that nothing was. I was told that what I felt was love and that it was true. In the end I was given another choice.”

“A choice?” Kala swallowed, “What choice?” she asked, daring for a moment to be hopeful before she stifled it and waited for him to say what he had to say.

Wolfgang hesitated, opening his mouth to speak then closing it, then trying again, “If you would have me, I could remain at my post and still be with you.”

Kala was speechless. Her heart thudded inside her chest, her breathing was uneven, and her eyes watered. The hope she had stifled a few moments earlier pushed against her will until her will yielded, allowing it to take root, to grow. She couldn’t believe that after all these years she was given a second chance to be with the only person she had ever loved with all her heart, but, “Why now? Why not years ago?”

Wolfgang smiled sadly, “I was told that the wait was not for my sake, but for yours. You didn’t see me as your Blue,” he said the name fondly. As silly as it was, Wolfgang still cherished it. “I was a stranger to you. You needed time to understand, to come to peace with what had happened, to realise I am the same as he.”

Kala could only stare. She really did need time. She really needed to reconcile the Sinner with the Angel. She wasn’t aware of it being a test to see if her love was true, if her love would persevere. 

Kala stared in utter surprise as Wolfgang kneeled at her feet, her hand still in his, then asked, “Kala, will you marry me?”

********

Kala and Wolfgang’s wedding ceremony was spectacular. What better venue than Heaven could one wish for? Dwellers and Angels sat side by side as Kala and Wolfgang exchanged their vows and kissed as husband and wife.

Kala looked radiant in her pearly white dress, while Wolfgang was dressed in his black armour. She looked at him with such pride in her eyes that Wolfgang’s heart burned bright in his chest. She was his strength and he never tired of telling her so.

When they were finally in the privacy of the palace gifted to them for their marriage, Wolfgang’s nerves frayed for the first time in his existence.

Kala asked him, concern etched on her face, “Are you alright?”

Wolfgang let out a shaky breath, “This is my- I’ve never-”

It hit Kala then, Wolfgang was a virgin. She knew he had never kissed anyone before her, never felt desire until he met her, but she never really gave it much thought, never put a word to his inexperience. She wanted him more than she had ever wanted anyone in her life, but she never thought about how she would be his first. 

Kala allowed herself a moment of pride for being his first in many aspects, not just this one before she took his face in her hands and kissed him gently, “Do you know anything about how this works or do I have to start from the very beginning.”

Wolfgang recognised the playfulness in her eyes and took no offence, “I know perfectly well how things work, Kala, but I just never put that knowledge into practice,” he said, a smile pulling at the corner of his mouth.

Kala kissed him again, “Then you’ll know what to do,” she reassured him as she took his hand in hers and led him up the stairs.

They walked into their bedroom hand in hand, seeing it for the first time. There was a mahogany four-poster bed against one wall, while another was all glass windows overlooking a massive garden with a lake. Opposite to the window there was a massive dressing room that held what Kala assumed was her clothes. There were lit candles scattered around the room, fragrant rose petals strewn across the floor. 

Wolfgang squeezed Kala’s hand and she turned her gaze to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, smiling up at him, then captured his lips with hers. Wolfgang wrapped his arms around her waist and caressed her back as his tongue teased her lips open. Her hands went into his hair, angling her head to the side and parting her lips further to kiss him better. She moaned when Wolfgang’s hands lowered to her butt and kneaded her cheeks. Their kisses grew frantic, needy. Wolfgang’s lips caressed Kala’s face, he licked and sucked on her neck so deliciously that she pushed her hips against his and pressed her breasts against his chest. 

Wolfgang made quick work of undoing the buttons at the back of her dress and pushing it down until it pooled around her feet, soon to be followed by her underwear. He kneaded her breasts once before he moaned as she sucked on his ear and gave it a small nip. Wolfgang’s eyes were fixed on Kala’s breasts. He marvelled over how they looked in his hands. He tweaked her nipples, fascinated by how she threw her head back and arched into his hands.

Kala’s hands blindingly ran over his armour, searching for a way to take it off and failed. Wolfgang was too busy kissing his way down to her breasts to notice, Kala had to tug at his hair to get him to look at her. “How do we get this off?” Kala asked, trying to pull at the fabric and failing. Wolfgang smirked as the armour disappeared from his body, then tried to capture her lips in a kiss only for her to stop him with a hand on his chest. She stepped out of her dress and underwear as her eyes roamed over his body. 

Wolfgang straightened, stood still, and let her look her fill. When Kala deemed her eyes not enough, she ran her hands over his strong shoulders, his muscle-bound arms, to the backs of his large hands. She moved to his chest next, scratching gently at his nipples and watched his chest move in a sharp inhale. She pressed her fingers against his abdomen, loving the feeling of soft skin on tight muscles. She then ran a finger down his hard cock and watched it twitch. Kala finally took his hand and led him to the bed, telling him to lie down.

Wolfgang did as he was told, his eyes on Kala as she straddled his waist. She kissed his mouth fervently, nipped on his jaw and ears, licked his neck and sucked on his collarbone. Wolfgang was overwhelmed by the foreign yet enticing sensations, his fingers going into her hair when she teased his nipples with her tongue. Wolfgang’s eyes were wide in anticipation as Kala kissed her way down his body, moving between his legs as she did. She kissed the insides of his thighs and sucked on the tender flesh just to hear him hiss again and again. Her hands squeezed his firm muscles once before she gave his cock a wide swipe with her tongue, kissed the head, then took him in her mouth, his balls in her hand. Wolfgang moaned loudly, his head thrown back, his eyes closed. He savoured the feeling for a moment, then pulled her up to crush her mouth on his.

Wolfgang returned the favour, tasting every inch of her skin he could get his mouth on. Kala writhed as he sucked on her clit and teased her folds with his tongue. She gasped when two of his fingers slid inside her, starting a steady rhythm as his tongue and mouth worked her clit.

“Wolfgang,” Kala whined breathlessly, “I can’t take it anymore. Please,” she pulled at his hair forcing him to stop. Wolfgang kissed his way up her body to her mouth, his tongue sliding against hers hungrily. Kala spread her legs wider and bucked her hips up against his cock, showing Wolfgang she could no longer wait. Wolfgang took his cock in his hand and guided himself to her entrance. Kala was so tight he could only get the head inside. She whimpered as he slowly slid in inch by inch, then moaned once his cock was fully buried inside her, revelling in the fullness. 

Wolfgang’s thrusts started slow then rapidly gained speed as their need for each other peaked. Kala called out Wolfgang’s name, her body arching off the bed, her fingers digging into the sheets as she orgasmed. Wolfgang’s thrusts slowed down. He kissed her cheeks and her neck and waited for her to catch her breath. Kala’s heart quieted marginally and only when it did, Wolfgang thrust into her again. Kala gasped as she realised Wolfgang was still hard. His thumb teased her clit mercilessly as he pushed into her again and again. Kala was delirious as she felt a second orgasm approaching. When it hit her, she couldn’t even moan or scream, she could only whine as her body shook with the intensity.

Wolfgang collapsed on top of her, his breathing loud, his face buried in her neck. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and wished she could wrap her legs around his waist, but they were shaking too hard, she couldn’t move them. Kala wouldn’t let Wolfgang move off of her. She needed him there, needed the closeness, the intimacy. They stayed in each other’s arms until their breathing evened. 

Kala could feel Wolfgang’s heart beat unnaturally fast against hers, warming up the spot where his skin touched hers. Frowning, Wolfgang pushed himself to his elbows, then to his knees between Kala’s legs. He bowed his head and closed his eyes. 

Kala’s eyes widened as she saw his unusually large heart light up so bright in his chest that she could read the commands that were emblazoned on it upon his creation. When a flickering light joined the steady one, Kala leaned on her hands to get a better look. She gasped at the sight of a new word being burned onto Wolfgang’s heart. 

Wolfgang opened his eyes and smiled kindly at Kala. He gently held her face in his hands, softly wiping away the tears that streamed down her cheeks as her eyes traced the new word that now joined his commands. 

_ Kala _ .

********


End file.
